Research Topics
Sensorimotor Control
Online control of movement is a vital capability to interact with the environment. The focus of my research is how the brain processes visual information for motor control and how these processes interact with attention. A central process is visuomotor binding, a shortcut that circumvents attention. We use behavioral experiments and computational models; my lab is equipped with three behavioral setups, including a VR setup.
Artificial Intelligence in Mental Health
Psychiatric disorders are one of the largest global health burdens. Research on their neural unterpinnings as well as on biomarkers for translating findings into the clinic are challenged by a variety of methodological issues most of them leading to problems with replication. My lab focusses on the problem of small datasets with data harmonization and generation of synthetic data, on the influence of data processing and analysis approaches with multiverse analyses, and on explainable deep learning models for interpretation and communication of results. Our research is based on a multidimensional view of those disorders and we move towards a transdiagnostic approach (initially focussed on depression, ADD, and schizophrenia). We include mainly data from EEG, MRT, and neuropsychological tests in our models.
Research Ethics
Ethical treatment of human research subjects has a long-standing tradition in disciplines such as medicine, psychology, and other life and social sciences. Fields rooted in technical disciplines, such as human computer interaction or artificial intelligence, are collecting more and more human data without having such traditions. In this research topic, we investigate awareness, regulations, and infrastructure regarding research ethics in these disciplines with the goal to improve good scientific practise. The research is embedded in the EUonAIR consortium.
Funding
| EUonAIR: Project Grant from the European Universities 2024 Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission with C. Lanquillon & R. Dillerup (HHN) and 14 further universities and institutes as partners in the consortium | 2025 – 2028 |  |
| EEG-DSS: Research Project Grant (ZIM) from Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi), Germany with brainBoost GmbH & Praxis Ph. Heiler | 2024 – 2027 |  |
| Two travel grants for OHBM 2024 in Seoul, South Korea from HAW.International:Kongressreisen Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) | 2024 |  |
| HHN-SAAI: Project Grant from Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Germany with N. Stache (HHN) | 2021 – 2025 |  |
| KIDD: Research Project Grant (ZIM) from Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi), Germany with brainBoost GmbH & Praxis Ph. Heiler | 2021 – 2024 | |
| VIT3A: Research Project Grant from Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), Germany with G. Meixner & N. Ondrusch (HHN) | 2020 – 2021 | |
| ZML: Research Project Grant from Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Germany with W. Schramm & N. Stache (HHN) | 2017 – 2019 | |
| Re-integration Grant from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany | 2014 – 2014 |  |
| Research Project Grant from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), UK with J. Diedrichsen (UWO) & D.W. Franklin (TUM) | 2012 – 2014 |  |
| Marie Curie Intra-European Postdoctoral Fellowship (EC) with J. Diedrichsen (UWO) | 2012 – 2014 |  |
| Postdoctoral Fellowship from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany with J. Diedrichsen (UWO) | 2011 – 2013 | |